Murdoch on Gilligan's Island
by Romantic Nerd
Summary: Even if you have never seen "Gilligan's Island," you will still be able to follow this story of Murdoch and company's adventures as Sally Pendrick and Ava Pierce abduct Murdoch, stranding him on a tropical island, and the Inspector, Crabtree, and even Meyers try to find him and, with his help, save the world, while William and Julia's bond is once again tested.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

William and Julia had been very happily married for many years, and were still _**quite enjoying themselves**_. They had the good fortune of having three children. Their oldest, a six year-old boy named William Jr. was the result of a mistake made by his parents and the miracle of scientific discovery (Julia's scarred cervix from her abortion rendered her able to conceive but unable to survive childbirth, and yet, despite the use of various means of birth control she had gotten pregnant and their son was delivered using an innovative transverse cesarean section). A few years later they adopted two sisters, now five year-old Katie and three year-old Chelsea. Julia had taken a year off after the birth of William Jr. to care for the infant. She had returned to work as a pathologist so William and Julia could work together once again.

Their latest case involved the puzzling death of a six year-old boy named William who was found dead in his bed. Dr. Ogden's postmortem indicated that the boy had been drowned in salt water. Found in the bed with the body was an envelope containing cut up dates and symbols and a story by Jack London called, "Yah, Yah, Yah," about the killing of native islanders using measles-infected crewman. Once Detective Murdoch started working on the dates and symbols, he found that one of the dates was the day their son William Jr. was born. Fearing that it was more than coincidence that the victim had the same name and age as their son as well as the boy's birthdate being included in the murderer's message, a constable was assigned to escort William Jr. home from school and to stand guard at the Murdoch's home until one of the parents came home.

Having fallen asleep following their typically vigorous lovemaking, Julia awoke in the middle of the night to find William missing from the bed. Worried, she covered her naked body with her robe and went to look for him. William was leaning against the kitchen counter wearing only his pajama bottoms. The room was dark save for the light coming through the windows from the street and the moon. He held a glass of milk. Lifting his eyes to meet hers from what seemed to be rather deep contemplation, Julia wondered, "Has he been crying?" The thought was not fast enough to beat her tightening groin in response to the sight of William's big dark eyes and his bare chest, but it did stop her from flirting with him.

He watched her as she crossed the room and poured herself a glass of milk. She came to stand in front of him, resting her hind end on the back of one of the kitchen table chairs. She said nothing. While she waited she held eye contact with him as she took a sip of milk.

"I had a dream," William said as if that sufficiently answered her implied question.

Julia continued to wait for more. She took another sip, stubbornly refusing to let go of his eyes. "Does he forget who his wife is?" she thought, "He must know that in the same way he chases down every last clue to solve a problem involving crime, I will dig into every thought and feeling to solve a problem involving emotion... Perhaps a little push…"

Julia dropped her eyes for a moment, hoping to seem less invasive and asked, "Was it frightening?"

"Yes, but not in the way you are likely imagining," he replied. (She was thinking that because William Jr. had been threatened in this most recent case that William might have had a bad dream about someone hurting William Jr.).

He retold the dream, "I dreamt that you were crying and that you turned and started to run away from me. I ran after you and pulled you back to me but you struggled against me. You threatened, "William, you have to let me go." I told you, "I can't. I just can't," and we both fell to the floor. I was crying and I wouldn't let go of you. Then you said, "William, if you don't let me go I'll never forgive you." My eardrums were ringing and I couldn't breathe. Sobbing, I let you go and you got up and rushed away... It was the sobbing that woke me."

It seemed obvious to Julia that one would work to understand why they had had such a dream - what its meaning was. She waited. She knew her husband's bright and curious mind would not stop there. Besides, her psychiatric training had taught her that another pushing in is not the best way to self-discovery, even with one who is your soul mate. (She knew neither she nor William would use that term to describe their relationship, but if either of them were ever asked if they were soul mates, she believed they would answer yes).

William was completely aware that he would need to struggle with the meanings of this dream, not just to appease his strong and focused wife, but for himself as well. It was just that right now the feelings of helplessness and loss were too overpowering, stuck in his throat and clouding his thoughts, making any hope of talking it through impossible. He imagined his brain full of smoke, burning his eyes and stealing away oxygen. He would need to clear the air first, and then chase after the smoke as it pulled back into the darkness of his psyche, to find the pathways to the sources of the dream. He took a few deep breaths (pushing the smoke back), swallowed a sip of milk (forcing the smoke to flow down) and placed the glass down on the counter. William lowered his eyes to observe his hands. Julia's eyes widened – it was a sign he was beginning to take up the hunt.

"I have been standing here trying to figure out why I would be worried that you are going to leave me. I have been a little distracted by work, but I have to say I feel that we have been very close and happy. Just this weekend we went to see a play and then spent the night in a hotel – you even said it felt like our honeymoon all over again," he pondered. He continued to watch as he fiddled with his hands and unconsciously twisted his wedding ring.

Julia felt her heart slowly glowing and warming in her chest, like a song that starts with a soft musical note that grows louder and louder until it can be heard throughout the whole body. It was love – She loved this man so. She started a debate inside herself as to which one she loved more, vulnerable William or confident William. She reminded herself that the true miracle was not having to choose, both stood in front of her, it was just that vulnerable William was a little closer to the surface right now.

"Maybe I'm worried that if William Jr. were harmed, and it was my fault, kind of like with the Inspector when his son was kidnapped, that I would lose you like he almost lost Margaret," William said, lifting his eyes to hers, checking to see if she thought he had it.

Julia took a moment to organize her thoughts and responded, "It seems plausible that such concerns would lead you to have a dream like this. And Margaret did seem to blame the Inspector. But I must say, William, I don't think I would react this way. If some criminal used your job, or the way you do it, as an excuse to hurt our children, even if you somehow messed up and failed to save them, of course I would be grief-stricken, but I think that rather than leave you, we would turn to each other for support and comfort. It's clear that one can never know for sure until they are actually in the situation, but that's my suspicion."

William reached up to rub his forehead. Julia knew he was still troubled. "It could be that you are the one in danger," he said, unable to hide the worry in his eyes.

Julia exhaled, leaned forward to lift herself off of the back of the chair, and stepped in very close to him to place her glass on the counter next to his. She wanted to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere. Speaking so closely to him that her breath could be felt on his cheek she said, "William, we both know that, as you have said, neither of us can promise to the other that we won't die – we have no control of that. Even our wedding vows acknowledge this, saying that only death can part us, leaving the one abandoned without the other. But even when facing death, I know I have, I know I would, fight with every fiber of my being to survive for you…"

"And I for you," William whispered.

Julia leaned in, placing her lips at his ear and speaking softly above a whisper with a tone that matched the one perfect note that lit his soul, she said, "But know, William Murdoch, that there will never come a time that I will consciously, intentionally, leave you. I will do everything in my power to be right here, always."

She thought he seemed calmer, less vulnerable. "Better?" she asked.

William nodded, "Yes."

"Now," she thought, "how to bring out confident William? Julia felt the throbbing in her thighs and abdomen that she had held at bay earlier start to build again just from imagining her partner when he is feeling self-assured. She reached up and caressed William's muscles on his shoulders and down onto his chest. Placed soft, soft kisses on his ear, his neck, his chin, and finally with the smallest of hesitations, his lips. He responded, coaxing open her mouth, gently teasing inward with his tongue. "Oh,..my," she thought as the next wave of desire melted and tightened her down below and deep inside. She pulled back, traced a path from his nipple to the inside of his bicep, and then up his bicep to his armpit, finishing by cupping his broad deltoid muscle, her warm breath flowing over his chest as she let go of a sigh. "There's my confident William," she thought as she reached down to take his hand and turned to go up to their bed.

It was probably two in the morning by the time they basked in the latest afterglow and Julia told him, "You know, William, I do believe that even if you stopped holding me you'd find I wouldn't leave. I'm drawn to your true nature, my love."

Julia awoke to the light of day to find she was alone. Such sudden abandonment was not totally uncommon. Usually it meant that William had had an idea about a case and had bolted off chasing the clue. Eyes gazing at the empty spot in their bed, Julia sighed at the thought of what normally would have been happening at this moment – morning sex. That most soft, slow, oozy, flow of lovemaking that happened after William woke her up with a lustful nudge. She wondered how its absence would affect her mood, and William's too. The quiet of her thoughts allowed her to hear the footsteps of their little ones before they even had a chance to knock on the bedroom door. Julia hurried to throw on her nightgown before the giggles and knocks filled the air. "Come in," she called, covering herself with blankets and pillows to better survive the onslaught of the tiny rough-housers.

Julia arrived by carriage at the morgue and was re-assured to see William's bicycle in front of Stationhouse #4. After completing all of the essential tasks required to get the day started, she decided to go over to see how William was doing. His office was empty. He was nowhere to be found. The constables were starting to get worried – it was odd not to have at least heard from him by now. Julia pointed out that his bicycle was parked in front of the stationhouse, and that sufficed to raise the alarm. She went to his office to see if there were any clues as to what had happened to him in there. The constable knocked on the Inspector's door to notify him that Murdoch may be missing.

Julia sat at his desk and started to look over the evidence from the case he had laid out there. She recognized the envelope that had held the pieces of dates and pictures found at the crime scene. William had placed them in chronological order and had lined up a symbol with each date. On a sheet of paper off to the side he had written notes as to the significance of each of the dates. She read William's notes, slowly becoming more and more worried.

Julia leaves for Buffalo

Julia buried alive

Julia almost hung

Julia attacked at asylum

William Jr. born (Julia almost dies)

Today's date

Ten days from now

"It was no wonder he had had bad dreams about me leaving him," she thought, "after having compiled this list. He must have been turning it over and over in his mind before he figured something out. What did you see, William?" He had made check marks next to two of the dates (Julia leaves for Buffalo and Julia attacked at asylum). "What's different about these two?" she thought, "Newspapers! That's it, the other dates were all events that were reported in the newspapers, but no paper reported about my leaving William to go to Buffalo and the papers didn't report about the attack at the asylum either."

The Inspector knocked at Detective Murdoch's door to get Dr. Ogden's attention, "I've called Detective Crabtree from Stationhouse #3 to cover for Murdoch, and George may be the best one to help us use these clues to find him." He walked behind the desk and looked over her shoulder to read the list, "Bloody hell! This seems personal, huh."

"Yes sir, it's pretty upsetting," Julia replied. "Look, William marked these two dates – these two weren't reported in the papers. The murderer, assuming the murder of the boy and William's being missing are linked, would have to have known these things through other means – and they would have to have known about both of them," Julia said.

"What do you make of the symbols?" he asked, "Do you think Murdoch matched them up correctly?

Julia placed her fingers on one of the symbols – a scalpel, and said, "This one seems right…and surely the noose and the shovel are correct."

"And the others - a paint brush and easel, a key, a boat and a palm tree. I guess you could use a boat to get to a place with palm trees," the Inspector speculated, "so it makes sense to put the boat with today and the palm tree ten days from now. Wherever they're going it will take them ten days to get there."

"Yes, and I think that place would be an island," Julia said as she picked up the Jack London story, "Yah, Yah, Yah," that had been left at the crime scene. "William has underlined that it takes place on a tropical island, and that the natives were overpowered by intentionally infecting them with measles," she said as she put the story down and reached for a manuscript on William's desk that she had not seen at the crime scene.

"It's not much of a jump to figure that Murdoch has been abducted, put on a boat, and is heading south towards a tropical island," the Inspector said.

Julia added, "I wonder if it was meant to be me? I mean all the dates were about times I almost died … or at least left," the smallest twinge of guilt lingered in her voice as she remembered their conversation before she left for Buffalo. She paused to read the handwritten note on the manuscript entitled, "The Unparalleled Invasion." Julia said, "I didn't know William knew Jack London." She read from the note, "Will, I see things worked out and you are still a detective. As a man with a mind for science, I was wondering if you would take a look at my latest work and provide feedback. Does the science support the idea that European and American troops could use such biological warfare in this way, and do you think it is feasible that the result could be such a genocide? To another point, I would be remiss if I did not thank you for the title of my book, "The Call of the Wild," as you were the one who came up with this turn of phrase as we stood together philosophizing in the Yukon. You said that a better measure of a man is what he does to correct his mistakes rather than what mistakes he has made. I have found this to be true. Your friend always, Jack."

"Impressive…" the Inspector said, "I don't see how all this personal stuff could be tied up with things like biological warfare and genocide, do you?"

"No, not really," Julia agreed, "But somehow it must."

The Inspector focused his attention back to the symbols and dates, "Murdoch has put the easel and paintbrush with "Julia leaves for Buffalo," and the key with, "Julia attacked at asylum." I see the key with the attack because… Eva Pierce, wasn't it… needed to get a key to get you in there and let all the crazies out of their cells, and then escape."

There was a surge of fear that spread through Julia's body as the ringing in her ears got louder and her breath shallowed and hastened in response to hearing Eva Pierce's name. With a somewhat stunned look on her face, Julia said quietly, "Yes…It was Eva Pierce…that's the one for the key."

The Inspector got an idea and rushed to the files, "Perhaps there's something in her file that will help us figure this out." When he went into the file cabinet, they could see Eva Pierce's file was tilted askew. Julia knew William to do this to mark a file he took something out of but meant to go back to.

"Inspector, William took something out of that file," she hurried to say. They opened the file and quickly guessed that it was Eva Pierce's picture that was missing. "Why would William need Eva Pierce's picture," she asked of herself as much as of the Inspector. There was a long pause as both of them thought.

Julia rushed back to William's desk, "Inspector, the easel and paintbrush – That's what William probably figured out! It's not that I went to Buffalo – It's Sally Pendrick! When I was leaving wasn't she running around causing havoc with a magnetic field-disturbing Microwave Death Ray! Didn't William figure out that she was the mastermind behind the theft of the Rembrandt too? Is her file missing her picture too?"

As they moved back to the files, Detective Crabtree arrived. He watched as they found the Sally Pendrick file – actually filed under Sally Hubbard which was her real American name - also turned askew and the picture missing from the file.

"He took her picture too," the Inspector said.

They caught Crabtree up on what they had figured out. Crabtree speculated that detective Murdoch took both pictures down to the docks to ask around and find out if either of them had booked a boat. "We'll need their pictures and to do the same thing," Crabtree said.

The Inspector and Detective Crabtree headed down to the docks to continue the investigation. They discovered that Sally Hubbard had a crew and a motorized sail boat that was logged to have left port this morning and was headed for Freeport down in the Florida Keys. They returned, packed their bags, and headed to catch a train bound ultimately for Miami. From there they would take a boat to Freeport. They figured that this way they could be there before the ten days needed for the boat to travel there. They agreed to send telegraphs along the way reporting their progress.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter2:

William drifted in and out of consciousness. He knew he was down below deck on a boat. He heard a motor. He was restrained lying in a spread eagle position and had vomited a few times in response to being sea-sick, not to mention drugged and beaten as well. He didn't know how long he'd been there and he was very thirsty, hungry too. He remembered finding a man who had seen Sally, and he was pretty sure Sally was onboard as well.

Sally came down the stairs and approached Murdoch. She stroked the restrained man in a flirtatious manner. "Detective Murdoch, I knew you wouldn't let me down. Such a good detective, following the clues until you found me. Perhaps you were motivated by more personal desires," she said as she kissed his neck. "Oh, but I must remember you are not _**my**_ prize. No, you're my bait. So disappointing, but I'll save you for her as we agreed," she shook her head and stepped away from him. "I'll have a man get you water, food and a chance to relieve yourself detective. Be a good boy," she said as she headed back up the stairs.

William figured that the, "her," he was the prize for was Eva Pierce, and she was likely waiting for him on a tropical island. He definitely did not like the sounds of that. "Sally and Eva must be in cahoots – but what could Eva bring to the deal if Sally was bringing him?" he thought.

Eva Pierce was completing the finishing touches on her tropical island paradise love nest. Two huts had been built and inside one of the huts she was working to place cloth around the restraints so that they would be less painful for William. "William, my love," she said out loud to no one, "we won't need these very long - just long enough to break your will and for you to give into your desires for me." Eva moved to the other hut and lifted up a picture of herself with a rich old man. "Thurston darling, I'm so sorry you had to die. I do thank you so for all the money though," she said as she kissed his face in the photo.

The Inspector and Crabtree arrived in Freeport and showed around the photos at the shipyards. Heading to the last boat at the end of a long peer – named "The Minnow," the Inspector felt a gun in his back. "Keep walking and nobody gets hurt," was their only instruction. "Get onboard," the voice demanded, with an extra poke of the gun. Once down below deck, they turned to see that their abductor is Meyers. "What are you doing here," everyone said all at once.

Meyers explained, "I can't have you blow my cover. I'm here as Thurston Howell the 3rd, a wealthy man on a fishing vacation with his wife…let me introduce my wife, Mrs. Thurston Howell the 3rd to you. (They tipped their hats to her). The real Howell turned up dead, but not before all his money was withdrawn from the bank and his lovely wife disappeared." He showed them the same picture with Howell and Eva Pierce that Eva had held up earlier.

"That's Eva Pierce!" Detective Crabtree exclaimed, "We're looking for her too! Well mostly we're looking for Sally. We believe she abducted Detective Murdoch."

"Oh, is the detective in trouble again?" Meyers asked. He then proceeded to explain that it was a matter of national security and that he believed Ms. Pierce to be involved in the building of a facility making a new weapon. He figured they were using Howell's money.

Meyers agreed to help them find the island where Sally took Murdoch. He expected that Murdoch would reciprocate by helping him find where the island with the weapon-making facility is located before it was too late and the weapon was sold.

Julia is dressed in her nightgown and robe. She checks on each of their sleeping children and then heads to bed. In the darkness we see her reach under William's pillow and take out his pajamas. She brings them to her face and smells them deeply. She sees happy memories of him in her head ("Do all women have these fantasies?" "That was your argument, and for me to step in like you're not strong enough seems to somewhat defeat that argument" "Not just a little bit winsome" "I've seen the future, Julia…It was you"). Then she pictures him in an embrace with Sally Pendrick on some isolated tropical island, Sally dressed as a beautiful hula-girl. Julia roles over in an attempt to change the scene and remembers the last night they were together discussing William's dream. She hears her own voice in her head, "But even when facing death, I know I have, I know I would, fight with every fiber of my being to survive for you…" She can practically feel his breath on her as she remembers William whispering, "And I for you." She pictures William wounded and starving on the same island. Tears overtake her.

Sally's motorized sail boat anchors off of a small, remote island and a row boat with a lightly bearded William in shackles, Sally, and a few men heads for shore. Waiting on shore, dressed in a sexy island outfit is Eva Pierce. William's face shows his mixture of fear and disgust as what he had most dreaded seems to be his fate. Before they reach the shore one of the men injects him with a substance and he quickly loses consciousness.

The men carry William into the hut and place his limp body in the restraints – arms spread apart, legs cuffed together and tied down. They go back to the boat and unload supplies (food, water, etc.).

Sally says to Eva, "There, I have met my end of the deal. You have your lover… your paradise. Now, tell me where the money is."

"You are not completely done - you still need to send me weekly supplies," Eva says, clearly holding back a sheet of paper.

"Clive has already been paid to do this for the next year, though I will need some of your money to pay him for the years after that," Sally says as she eyes the paper in Eva's hand.

Eva hands over the paper telling where the money is hidden and Sally and her men get in the rowboat and leave.

The sun has set and in the twilight Eva is kissing and stroking a barely conscious William. "Oh my darling, you are going to love this paradise. I know your desires for me are strong," she says as she unbuttons his shirt. After a few moments, William seems to be participating and getting aroused. When Eva moves down to unbutton his pants, he throws his body up against the restraints and locks her neck between his legs, holding her there so tightly that she eventually loses consciousness. William then pushes her body upward with his body until her head rests near his right hand and he removes a hairpin and struggles to undo the restraint. With only the last restraint to open, Eva starts to come to and William kicks her in the back of the head, rendering her unconscious again. After William is freed, he places Eva into the restraints and heads off to try to figure out what to do to escape the island.

He finds no means of escape, and frustrated, he drops down and looks out at the vast sea. He is thirsty and hungry so he heads back to the hut. He goes to Eva and asks her how they are supposed to survive when these supplies run out. "There will be a delivery every week, and when they see that you have escaped and captured me they will probably kill you," she yelled.

The length of William's beard and overall disheveled look (ripped pants, dirty, etc.) indicate that a week or more has passed. William waits in the brush ready to set off his trap once the men delivering the supplies enter the hut, but no one comes. He goes to Eva and says that he will be building some contraptions to gather supplies – water, coconuts, fish. "Sally has betrayed you Eva. There will be no deliveries of supplies… I will find things we can eat and I have an idea for how to get water. I will return with the bare essentials soon enough," he says and then leaves.

Experienced as a logger, William skillfully uses his jacket to wrap around the trunk and some knife tips wedged into the souls of his shoes to scale up the coconut trees to get coconuts and sometimes even eggs. He has made a water gathering device that collects morning doo from lots of leaves, rolling it down to be captured in empty coconut containers. His fishing inventions vary from nets made with lacey undergarments and fishing poles and spears. The work is hard, but he finds time each day to sit and think of Julia and his family. He pushes himself to try to remember events in chronological order, almost like he's writing a book (She's taking a dancing lesson with him, "I found myself in an untenable situation, and I did not want to marry the man," She hovers above him in a big balloon, Wearing the beautiful red dress, "I plan to become a psychiatrist"…). The memories are bitter-sweet, always bringing him to tears at the end. He speaks to Julia in his head, "It's so hard not to give up, my love. Not to give in to the fear that I will never see you again."

Julia walked in the door of their home and was quickly surrounded by their little ones. Happy to see them she hugged them and asked about their day. Later she read to them from the book, "Treasure Island."

"Do you think Daddy will find the treasure?" Katie asks.

"Daddy's so smart, he'd have to be the one to find the treasure, don't you think Mommy?" asks William Jr.

Struggling with whether or not to tell them that their father's struggles are likely just to survive, and there is probably not any treasure to be found, she quickly swallows away the fear that he might even be dead, and answers, "Your daddy is truly the smartest man I've ever known. If anybody could find it, it would probably be him."

Chelsea, only three-years-old, asks, "Will daddy come home after he finds the treasure?"

Julia signals for them all to come close and she says, "I'm sure your Daddy is doing everything he can to get home to us. If he has to find a treasure first, then he will. I do miss him so, and I know you do to. And you know what, I'm sure Daddy misses us even more than we miss him."

Later, Julia once again lies in their bed snuggling with William's pajamas, "William, I don't think I can do this without you," she cries into the fabric, her will giving way to sobs that shake through her body.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Meyers returns to the Minnow (Howell yacht) with a man (Adam) who had been seen earlier working for Sally and delivering Murdoch to Eva's island. He brings him below deck and explains to the Inspector and Crabtree that the man has agreed to take them to the island where he saw them deliver Murdoch for a price. Meyers has agreed to pay him when he has brought them to the correct place.

The Minnow set sail from this tropic port for a three-hour tour. The brave and sure Inspector and his mate, Crabtree, stay up on the boat deck for the whole three-hour tour. The Howells come up on deck to offer them lemonade, Mr. Howell (Meyers) pouring some scotch into the Inspector's drink. Holding a parasol, Mrs. Howell squints into the distance to see a large, red motorized sailboat that also is equipped with a large sail and tows a rowboat (not recognized by her as Sally's boat) anchored near an island they pass on the way.

The Minnow pulls up close to the island and anchors. The Inspector jumps down into the waist-high water and offers a hand to Crabtree, "Here, let me help you out, little buddy," he says.

Adam jumps over the side, splashing water all over Mrs. Howell. Mr. Howell (Meyers) calls out, "Hey there, watch what you're doing…Are you O.K., Lovey?" he asks.

"Oh Thurston," she replies, "You are so gallant."

"Thank you, Inspector," replies Crabtree. "Now Mr. and Mrs. Howell, are you planning on coming too?"

"Well we would so love to see what an island paradise looks like, wouldn't we Lovey," says Mr. Howell as he jumps out. "Inspector, do you think you could carry my lovey ashore so she doesn't ruin her expensive dress?" he asks.

The Inspector rolls his eyes but obliges.

A long-bearded and scraggly Murdoch, along with a hand-cuffed and sexy-looking Ms. Pierce, watch from the shore. With a huge smile, Murdoch reaches out to them as they step onto the beach, "Inspector, so good to see you," he says, shaking the Inspector's hand, "George!" followed by a hug.

Before Murdoch can address Meyers, Meyers grabs his hand into a handshake and says, "Let me introduce myself, Thurston Howell the 3rd and my wife."

Adam roughly approaches Mr. Howell (Meyers) and demands the money he's owed. (Murdoch stares at him as he tries to decide whether he's seen the man before or not – he remembers him being on Sally's boat and injecting him as they rowed up to the island).

"Sure, sure, old boy," Meyers says and hands him the money from his jacket.

Adam approaches Eva and says, "Well, well, who do we have here?" Eva flirts with him. He flirts back and even grabs her and takes the liberty of a big kiss. The group has not noticed that Sally's boat (the same one Mrs. Howell saw anchored near another island earlier) has anchored off the island and a rowboat full of thugs has just pulled ashore.

Crabtree takes a swing at one of them, only to spin around and fall into the man. The man then lands a hard punch into Crabtree, prompting the Inspector to rush over. "Oh no, little buddy, are you alright?" While he's helping Crabtree to his feet, the Inspector is hit over the head. Eventually, only Mrs. Howell and Eva are standing and the thugs have left. Murdoch stands up first and runs to the Minnow. He finds that the choke has been pulled out, and when he tries to start the engine it turns over and over but will not start.

He returns to the group. "We're stranded," Murdoch says.

Crabtree whines, "Oh no, you mean that we started out from a tropic port for a three-hour tour and now me, the brave and sure Inspector, the millionaire, Mr. Howell, and his wife, a beautiful criminal, and you detective, are all stranded together here on this island?"

Clearly disappointed, Murdoch replied, "Yes, George. We're stuck here... I have invented a lot of things that we need to survive, but I'm not sure we'll be able to collect enough food and water for all of us. I also need to make something to work like the choke on the boat."

Mrs. Howell approached the detective, casting his face into the shade of her parasol and said, "Oh Professor, I'm sure you'll think of something."

Murdoch replied, "I'm not a professor, I'm a detective, but I'll surely try." Murdoch headed up to the brush with Crabtree following close behind.

As the sun was setting, Murdoch and Crabtree returned with some fish, coconuts, and water, receiving a round of applause from the group. Murdoch was very excited about borrowing a razor to shave.

A newly clean-shaven Murdoch asked Mrs. Howell if he could use her corset to try to make something to fix the boat.

Meyers interjected, "Lovey, I don't think you should."

Mrs. Howell replied, "Well Thurston, if the Professor needs it then I think I should." Murdoch rolled his eyes but had clearly given up on getting her to drop the "professor" title for him.

The Howells ducked behind some underbrush to remove the corset and Murdoch raised his voice so they could hear, "So, Meyers, I assume it's alright to call you that now that none of Sally's men are around, awhile back you asked me if I could fish…"

"Did I?" Meyers asked.

William dropped his eyes down to his wedding ring, "Yes, you were referring to my wife… You said she reminded you of the noble salmon – swimming upstream. Well, when we get back to civilization, perhaps I would join you on a fishing adventure. I'm quite good at it now." His pride in being able to provide for the group seemed to fall away as the reference to Julia took center stage in his mind, paralyzing him with the memories of sitting looking out on the sea, believing he would never get off of this island – never see her, never touch her, again.

Later, aided by the moonlight and Crabtree, Murdoch tinkered with making a choke for the boat. Spread out before him there were some chopped up tops of coconuts, strings made from clothing, and a corset which the detective had pulled some of the whalebone out of. Murdoch explained, "You see, George, the carburetor is where the gasoline mixes with air. It is important to have the right gas to oxygen ratio to spark the engine. But when the engine is cold, you want a higher percentage of gas – that's where the choke comes in. It can close down over the carburetor to minimize the amount of air getting into the carburetor. Later, when the engine has heated up, you need to be able to lift the choke to let more air in. So we need to make something that we can close and open over this piece here."

George looked back at the island with concern, "You know Sir, I've heard tell of cannibals out on these remote islands. I wouldn't be surprised if there weren't cannibals watching us right now, trying to decide who would make the juiciest meal. The Inspector better be especially careful."

Rolling his eyes and shaking his head, Murdoch responds, "George, I've been here for weeks now. There are not any cannibals. But I do bet that the thug who kissed Ms. Pierce will return. I think his heart was captured by her, much like as what happened with the Kissing bandit, and he will return to try to save her. I have restrained her in the hut, and if he tries to free her he will be trapped!" Murdoch smiles at the cleverness of his invention – he has added a trip wire to the trap he set earlier to capture the man delivering supplies who never showed. "I'm hoping we can use the boat he comes in if I can't fix this one," Murdoch adds.

Unable to fix the boat, at least so far, William headed off to the other side of the island to rest and think of Julia. He tried to pick up where he was last in reviewing his memories chronologically, having run through all of their years together many times now. This time though his mind wouldn't focus. Memories came flying at him, quick and jumbled (blue liquid flowing upwards, "It's funny when he says it," Julia nursing William Jr., "Your logic is infuriating," "Disappointed, we can't have that …," "My abortion … it left me sterile," "I injured his male pride,") William looked up at the moon. Its vast distance playing tricks on him, allowing him to think that right at this moment she was looking at the same moon – coaxing himself into feeling closer to her as they shared the sight. It was not long until he started talking to her in his head again, "There's hope now, Julia. Don't give in to despair. You told me you'd fight with every fiber in your body to survive for me, and I for you. I'm coming, hold on." The sea breeze blew softly over him. He finally found sleep.

Sally's boat was anchored near an island. Sally barked out orders as men ran to and fro across the factory-like building in the center of a nearby island. Evacuation chambers worked to remove water from petri dishes full of yellowish small pox vaccine pulp. She spoke with Clive. "We must get the air-dried toxins packed up! Our buyer, a Chinese drug company, will be here in two days," she instructed. "The vaccine needs to be given to the Chinese troops and dignitaries before the infection is spread by the Americans and the Europeans…Time is of the essence," she said, with stress filling the air.

Clive worked up the courage to tell her that someone had taken the smaller motor boat. Furious, she stormed off to see for herself and then had each of the men sent to her for questioning. She couldn't afford to have a leak or a breach in security right now. The deal is almost done.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Julia ducked into their bedroom quickly to change before dinner. Her heart was aching with the pain of missing William. She looked at the pillow where she kept his dirty pajamas. Fear surged through her. The bed had new sheets. Julia rushed over and lifted the pillow – there was nothing under it. She ran down the stairs and into the kitchen.

Panic-stricken, Julia asked Eloise, "Where are William's pajamas?"

"Well I washed them dear. Now they're all clean, folded and waiting for him," she said as she turned away from the stove to catch a glimpse of the fear and devastation spreading across her mistress' face. "What's wrong?" she pleaded.

Julia burst into tears. She seemed to just fall apart. Tears already flowing down her cheeks, she cried, "I have nothing now," and disappeared up the stairs, the wind in her wake seeming to pull the bedroom door shut behind her.

"Is Mommy alright?" Katie bolted into the kitchen to ask.

"Oh Katie, I think she's missing your daddy too much right now," Eloise said, soothing the child with a hand to her shoulder, but fixing her concerned gaze up the stairs. Eloise could hear Julia sobbing before she even started up the stairs. Her heart sank for the young woman. Deciding that it would be too cruel to leave her alone in such despair, Eloise opened the bedroom door and sat on the bed next to Julia's shaking body. "There, there now Miss Julia…" Eloise said, but stopped short realizing that there was really nothing she could say to ease Julia's pain.

With more effort than she had ever exerted to get words out through tears before in her life, Julia said, "Oh Eloise, I can't bear it. I've lost all of him now. I can't remember his touch, or the sound of his voice… Now I won't be able to fill myself with his scent –it sparks my memories. I have nothing of him anymore. William's gone." Eloise did her best to scoop her up into her arms and pin her tightly to help contain her body against the onslaught of sobs. The children came to stare at their mother, eyes filling with tears of their own. Julia knew she needed to be strong for them, but she just couldn't. "I'm sorry babies," Julia said and offered them her open arms to join them in the hug. They all cried together... Finally Julia settled. She lifted herself away from Eloise, and reached down to touch her children. "Let's go finish the book. We're on the last chapter now," she said as she stood and guided them to the door.

After a few hours in bed, failing to chase away the grief, Julia gave up and decided to go downstairs and make a sleeping draft. She leaned against the kitchen counter where William had stood the night of his bad dream over a month ago, and slowly tried to swallow down the grief with sips from the drink. She remembered how beautiful he looked in the moonlight that night. "Oh, to never see those big eyes of his again," she thought as tears overtook her once again. "I really don't think I can live without him…but I promised to try," she heard her voice in her head say as she sniffed and sighed and left the memory of him to go back upstairs alone.

She had almost gotten completely dressed the next morning without crying, until she finished putting up her hair and unconsciously reached up to pull a few curls free so they could whisp at the edges of her face. She never noticed why she did this before, but the pain ripped through her now as she thought, "So he can tuck them behind my ears." Julia crumbled as she thought of how William would never again do that. She would never feel his rough hands tenderly touch her. Deep breaths. Push the pain away. She stood up and left their room to go out in the world and try to function without him for another day.

Dawn is breaking as William awakens alone on the other side of the island. He has gotten some inspiration for how to fix the choke on the boat from his dreams. He runs through his thoughts in his head, "First off, coconut shells won't work as the cap – they'd catch on fire and lead to an explosion. I need something metal, and since I can't weld anything here, it would be best if it already had a way to attach things to it…A badge! That's it. But it will need some kind of a rim around it, like a pan lid. And whatever the rim is made of shouldn't be flammable either…" William heads back to the Minnow.

On the way back to fixing the boat, Murdoch passes by the Inspector who is still sleeping in a hammock near the hut, and he hears Meyers snoring in one of the huts. He looks in to see both of the Howells asleep. He notices that Crabtree is missing and looks towards the hut with Eva restrained inside and where the trap is set to capture Adam. The trap has been tripped, a large wooden cage surrounding the hut, and Murdoch finds Crabtree caught in the trap. He must have been trapped there for a long time because George is asleep. Murdoch whispers, "George! Wake up." George awakens with a jerk and Murdoch hurries to quiet him. They work together to free George and re-set the trap. Then Murdoch and Crabtree go to the Minnow to put together the choke. The sun has now risen above the horizon.

On the other side of the island from where William usually sits when he thinks of Julia, a small black motorboat is seen drifting ashore after Adam cuts off the engine. He anchors the boat and heads across the island, metal cutters and a gun in hand. When he sneaks towards the hut, he sees the Inspector sleeping. He tiptoes into the hut the Howells are sleeping in, turns around and goes to the booby-trapped hut. As he steps into the hut, his foot trips a string and a large cage of wood falls down around the hut. The noise the falling cage makes awakens everyone. Murdoch and Crabtree hear the commotion as Adam threatens to shoot people though the bars of the cage. People have taken cover. Unseen coming up on the other side of the hut, Murdoch goes around one side of the hut and George goes around the other side. Adam sees Murdoch and quickly turns his gun that way. Just then, George throws a rock at Adam's head and Adam falls to the ground unconscious.

The Inspector calls out, "You always were a good pitcher, little buddy!"

"I've fixed the Minnow and we can also use the boat he anchored on the other side of the island," Murdoch declares.

Meyers insists, "As a matter of national security it is our duty to try to stop Sally from distributing whatever it is she's doing to make a weapon for germ warfare!"

Murdoch explains that he suspects she is actually making a vaccine that the Chinese troops and anyone else the criminals want to save will need so that they don't get sick when the Americans and Europeans invade what he thinks might be parts of China. There is a scientist in Paris, Lucien Camus, who has invented a method for making the small pox vaccine here in the tropics where the high temperatures lead to contamination if the water is not removed to dehydrate the vaccine. Sally would need a place with generators to run a factory-like set of machines to dry the vaccines. "When you sailed here from Freeport, did any of you notice an island that had electricity – lights or motors?" he asked.

Mrs. Howell became visibly excited, "Not that, but I did see an island where the same boat all those thugs came in was anchored!"

"That's it!" Meyers exclaimed, "Now we need a plan…"

"What about them?' Crabtree asks, looking towards the hut with Adam and Eva.

Murdoch answers, "Eva wanted a romantic life in a tropical island paradise. Let her have it…At least until we can have her arrested for murdering her husband, the real Thurston Howell the 3rd.

The Inspector and Crabtree drift in to Sally's island under the cover of darkness. The Inspector has their only gun – the one taken from Adam. On the other side of the island, the Minnow glides to a stop and the anchor is dropped. After knocking out the skipper and two thugs on the boat Sally planned to use to deliver the vaccines to the Chinese drug company, and placing Mrs. Howell (who turns out to be a completely competent spy herself) in place at the wheel of the ship, Murdoch and Meyers swim ashore. All four of them sneak up to the factory from two opposite sides and wait. They watch as men row the shipments out to the boat and load it up. Murdoch sneaks into the building to get an idea of how many men there are and how big the shipment is. He returns to Meyers and tells him that there are about ten men and Sally. It appears that all of the vaccines will fit on the one boat. After knocking out and tying up four of the thugs, Murdoch and Meyers find the Inspector and Crabtree and they decide to take off with Mrs. Howell driving the boat with the vaccines. Sally is alerted when she hears the boat engines start up and she orders the men that are left to get into their jet-ski like vessels and go get that vaccine shipment back. A boat chase ensues.

Murdoch, Meyers and Mrs. Howell stand at the edge of a dock in Freeport looking anxiously for the Inspector and Crabtree's black motorboat to sail in. The American spy, Allen Clegg walks over to stand next to Meyers. He thanks him for stopping the sale of vaccines to a Chinese drug company, but he is confused as to why Sally Hubbard thought the Americans and the Europeans planned to commit germ warfare and genocide in China in the first place. Murdoch shrugs and speculates that maybe she heard whispers about a story coming out by Jack London that has such a plot, "Perhaps she heard about it and thought it was real? After Clegg leaves, Mrs. Howell (it was determined that they would never know her real name) leans over and says, "Maybe it is real and the Americans just don't want anybody to know about it." The local authorities are guarding the vaccine shipment and have arrested the boat's skipper and the two thugs. The local authorities are also headed to Sally's island, but it is expected that Sally will escape once again. Finally, their boat appears on the horizon. A jet-ski is up on deck and Clive is trapped underneath it. Crabtree holds a gun on him. They hug and congratulate each other on their success.

Murdoch ushers them quickly towards the town, "We have to send a telegram. Julia is probably …I can't even imagine how she is."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

A carriage pulls up to the Murdoch house in the dark. Lights are on in the house, it's about nine o'clock in the evening. William gets out of the carriage. When he gets to the door he finds a sign taped to it. Written in crayon it says, "Welcome Home Daddy." He unlocks the door and quietly steps in. He puts his bag down, hangs his hat, and turns the corner to enter the parlor where all three of his children are up past their bedtime waiting for him to get home. It's noisy and happy as children jump all over him with glee.

Julia and Eloise hear the commotion from the kitchen and Julia looks at Eloise to show her excitement. William turns around when he hears Julia call his name and she runs into his arms. Tears in her eyes she says, "Welcome home detective." He kisses her. Eloise stands at the doorway and watches as the children share about the book they read.

"Treasure Island," really? Well then you know a lot about what it was like for me on the seas and on the island too," William said.

"Tell us about it Daddy," William Jr. begged.

William took a deep breath and tried to decide where to begin, "Well, I got sea-sick on the boat and I was tied up anyway. I was left on a small island as the captive of a woman who had killed her husband. I escaped and then captured her and tied her up in a hut. I had to invent lots of ways to get the things we needed to survive. For weeks on end I ate nothing but fish and coconuts."

That comment evoked laughter from both Julia and Eloise. Julia asked, "That reminds me, are you hungry William? Eloise stayed because she wanted to be here to heat up some dinner for you."

"That sounds great," said William, "I'm very hungry. What's for dinner?"

Julia covered her mouth as she tried to stifle a laugh and turned to look at Eloise. Eloise said, "I made your favorite for desert." William thought for a minute to remember what he had told Eloise was his favorite desert and he shook his head "no" and started chuckling, "Not coconut cream pie?!"

Julia reached over and put her hand on William's knee, "And William, remember it's Friday, so…"

"You're kidding," he said with a little wrinkle on the right side of his mouth and a tilt to his head, "Oh no, not fish?!"

Everyone burst into laughter. They all got up and sat around William as he ate, sharing with each other about all of the things they'd missed over the past many weeks.

Later, after the children had been tucked into bed, William and Julia undress each other and slide under the covers. William hasn't been this excited since their honeymoon, but Julia seems more reserved. He kisses her passionately, but she hardly moves, doesn't moan or kiss back. When he explores her body there are signs that she's aroused, erect nipples and moist folds between her thighs, but she doesn't reciprocate the exploration, leaving her arms placed around William's waist. William looks into her eyes and she smiles. She finally moaned when he penetrated her, but was completely silent after that. As he usually did, he made sure that he felt her muscles ripple and contract around him before he pushed himself towards his own climax and finally let go.

Afterwards Julia rolled out from under him, allowing him to slip out of her instead of holding him inside of her and seeming to savor their togetherness as she usually did. She rolled onto her side facing away from him and started to cry. William had known Julia to cry after their lovemaking before, but not like this. Her tears usually followed very passionate, extremely good lovemaking. She had explained it as being due to the strong emotions such lovemaking evoked. And all of those times she had clung to him. There was no other time that he felt closer to her than times like those. He didn't feel close to her now, in fact quite the opposite. She seemed very far away. "Julia," he asked, resting a hand on her shoulder, "are you alright?" She didn't answer. The crying appeared to get worse. "Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No William, it was good, really," she said. Julia tucked herself down deeper into her pillow.

William had no idea what to do. He didn't understand what was going on. "Julia?" he pleaded.

"Please, William, leave me alone for now. It's just going to take me some time to adjust to your being back, that's all," she said still facing away from him. He didn't think she was crying anymore.

William went to the water closet, cleaned himself up, and brushed his teeth. When he returned it seemed Julia was asleep. He turned off the light and joined her in bed.

The next morning, Julia had gotten up out of bed before William awoke. They spent the day together with their children, going to the park, playing, rough-housing, etc. It was a good day, though Julia remained cool with her husband. They did not make love that evening or Sunday morning or Sunday night either. Whenever William tried to talk to Julia about her distance, she repeated that it was going to take time and asked him to be patient. She had tried to explain how devastated she was without him, telling him about her reaction to Eloise's washing of his pajamas as an example.

On Monday morning, William woke up softly. As he stretched his body out the warmth flowing through his muscles felt exquisite, and, as was not uncommon, he felt aroused. He rolled over to Julia who slept facing away from him and reached up to gently brush her curls off of her face. He lowered his face down to her neck and smelled her before kissing her and lightly sucking on her skin.

"Please William, I don't want to," she said.

Frustrated, William pushed himself away from her and sat up abruptly on the side of the bed.

"Julia rolled over to face his side of the bed, "Please William, don't be angry."

Slapping the mattress as he quickly turned around to look her in the eye he said, "Don't be angry!" he took in a deep breath, "Julia this has got to stop! We have to work this out."

She pulled herself up to lean against the bed's headboard and tucked her knees up into her arms. Tears filled her eyes and began to flow down her cheeks. She looked away from him and said, "It's just that it hurts so much…"

He couldn't believe his ears. Again he slapped the mattress, "Hurts?! It hurts when I touch you?"

Julia nodded and whispered, "Yes."

"When I kiss you?" he demanded she look at him with his eyes.

"Yes," she said.

William leaned in closer to her and lowered his voice, sadness entering, "It hurts when I make love to you?"

Julia's breathing noticeably quickened. "Yes," she said as she started to rock herself and her crying grew stronger.

William turned away and got up off of the bed. When he turned back to her his eyes were filled with tears, the way Julia had noticed that only his big, beautiful eyes could, so full that the pools contained behind the long lashes seemed to defy gravity. Now, only a whisper, he said, "Julia, talk to me."

Julia pushed herself to continue. Tears flowed, edging on sobs as she tried to explain, "I never should have let myself fall this deeply in love with you. It's not safe."

William threw his hands up in the air to show his level of disbelief, "Not safe?..."

Julia rushed to explain, "It's just that now I know I can't bear it. I know I can't survive the loss of you."

William couldn't help but to shake his head side to side. He began to rub his forehead. It just didn't make sense. He thought to himself, "How can she possibly be pushing me away because she knows she'll suffer from my loss? I just don't get it." William took a deep breath and said, "Julia, living like this you already have lost me… or at least fallen out of love with me - which is like losing me anyway."

"Yes, yes, of course that's true," and yet her head was shaking, "no" and the crying grew stronger again when she said, "Once again winsome logic William."

He'd had it. William yanked his pajamas off of his body and threw them at her. "Here! Make sure they don't get washed this time. You'll need them to keep grieving," he yelled. Tears filled his eyes again. Quieter now he said, "You can't even see that I'm standing right here – I feel like a ghost." He headed for the wash closet but hesitated and turned back to her, hearing her sobbing, compassion seeped back into him. William calmly said, "Come on. You have to stop crying. Pull yourself together. We have to go to work, get the kids up…I'm going to take a shower, a cold one I guess."

Despite their argument, William and Julia managed to get everything done and get off to work. William walked into the stationhouse to find it filled with a celebratory mood. The Inspector, Crabtree (even though he worked at stationhouse #3 now) and himself had been missed and everyone was very happy to have them back. Just looking at his desk convinced Murdoch that it would take weeks to catch up on all the work he'd missed. He started to sort through the letters, notes, case folders, etc. but had to admit he was finding it hard to concentrate. "Weeks stranded on a tropical island may have made my head soupy," he thought. But his mind kept being bombarded with flashes of his fight with Julia earlier this morning and he felt such pain thinking of Julia suffering so.

He had an idea. He took out a piece of paper and started writing. When he'd finished composing his love note, at least a love note is the closest thing to what he thought it was, William told the Inspector he had to go out for a quick errand. The Inspector told him there was a meeting with Meyers at ten o'clock that he needed to be back for it. "National Security," he said. The Inspector chuckled and shook his head in agreement.

He rode his bicycle to the flower shop, where he bought a single yellow rose (the same color they wore on their wedding day) and some yellow ribbon. He wrapped the love note around the stem of the rose with the ribbon and headed back. He caught one of Julia's co-workers at the morgue as they were going in and asked him to please put the rose on Dr. Ogden's desk but try not to let her see. Then he headed back into the stationhouse and dug into his work.

Julia had managed to get focused on her work and push her emotions to the side. She noticed that she was sighing a lot more than usual, but all-in-all she thought she was coping quite well considering the argument she and William had had earlier. Actually, she felt herself tear-up just thinking of it, so she decided to push forward and tackle some of the case files to redirect her attention to work. When she plopped herself down at her desk she found the yellow rose on top of the pile of case files. There was no way she could get to them without dealing with it first. She lifted the rose and studied it. "My God, he really is trying," she thought. She heard another one of those big sighs flow out of her. She untied the ribbon and flattened out the wrinkled note. It was written in William's handwriting. It felt so important. She decided to read it slowly, letting the message he was trying to send her have time to soak in. It said:

 _ **If you tell me you can see the dying rose – keeled over, petals sagging and brittle, falling to the floor,**_

 _ **And that you weep for its loss,**_

 _ **I will tell you that you see the truth of the rose's impermanence.**_

 _ **But only if you tell me you can also see the golden bloom warming your heart and bringing a smile to your lips,**_

 _ **Hurt from the prick of the thorn - tasting the blood and tears that it draws from you,**_

 _ **Be soothed by the tiny drumbeats of raindrops splashing and dancing on its leaves,**_

 _ **Soften from the feel of the supple, moist petals as they caress your cheek,**_

 _ **And smell the sweet fragrance as it permeates your soul,**_

 _ **Only then, will I tell you that you see the truth of the rose's nature.**_

 _ **Julia, you once told me you were drawn to my true nature. Are you still?**_

"Yes, my love," she heard herself answer out loud as tears once again filled her eyes. Like the rose he wrote about, she found herself overwhelmed with the need to touch him, hear his laugh, kiss his lips, stroke his tie, tease him, and hug him, gaze into his big, beautiful eyes, rock with him as they made love. It is the nature of love that risk must be taken – that one will be left devastated after the loss of the other, and that this goes hand-in-hand with the joy. There is no love without the risk of pain. The meaning of life itself was found by being with him - being in love with him. Her legs took her before she even tried to decide whether or not to go.

Julia burst into the stationhouse still holding the yellow rose and wrinkled note in her hand. She ran to his office, but could tell he wasn't in there before she got to the door. She stopped short and scanned the building. She heard his laugh – eyes darted towards the sound. "He's in the Inspector's office," she thought, but she could not see him in there. She saw the Inspector, Meyers, even George, but not William. She noticed it out of the corner of her eye – the top of William's head, that beautiful back hair. It floated just at the bottom of the window of the Inspector's office. "He's sitting on the couch," she thought.

Still overtaken by her emotions and the overpowering need to … love him, she rushed to the Inspector's door and pushed it open. Before anyone could even say, "Doctor?!" she had found William's hand and pulled him to his feet. She threw her arms around his neck, the yellow rose catching against his collar and his ear, and she smothered him in kisses. She pressed so hard against him that he was pushed back a step and barely recovered before he was pushed back down on to the couch. William's surprise was slowly overtaken by joy. Within mere seconds he responded to her by loving her back – the kisses deepened, his hands reached around her and pulled her closer. Needless to say, the onlookers were quite shocked, but they also were people who truly cared for the detective and the doctor. They shared a few looks with each other, but none of them seemed willing to interrupt.

William gained control over himself first and gently pulled himself back from her. Once separated a bit, it was clear that they both were out of breath. Their eyes stayed locked on each other as Julia stepped back so that, even though they were still entwined, their bodies were no longer in contact.

"Well, well, Doctor, what did Murdoch do to deserve this?" the Inspector asked.

Still gazing into William's eyes, Julia said, "He woke me up. He helped me see what was staring me in the face. He found me through all the haze. He drew me in – showing me that our love is worth the risk. He saved me once again…He loved me."

Meyers speculated, "Well I don't know about all of that, but I'll bet it has something to do with that rose."

George added, "And probably that note."

The Inspector slapped Murdoch on the back and said, "You told me you didn't write love poems, me old mucker."

Embarrassment was setting in. William cleared his throat, "Would you please excuse us for a minute." And with that, William and Julia walked out and huddled together for a moment just inside Murdoch's doorway. William leaned in close to her and said, "Let me take you to lunch, Mrs. Murdoch?"

"That would be delightful," she replied, "Noon?"

"Good. I'll pick you up at the morgue," William said, sealing it with a soft kiss.

William and Julia went to the hotel they had lived in after they were first married, Windsor House, for lunch. Still recognized by the staff, it made it a little less awkward than it would have been elsewhere to check-in in the middle of the day without any luggage. They were pulling the clothing off of each other before the door even clicked closed. The lovemaking was unrestrained and hungry. Afterwards Julia cried – the good kind. They ordered room service, it was lunchtime after all. It took all of their self-control to keep the clothing on as they dressed again and prepared to head back to work.

Back at home that night, everyone was happy to see Julia back to her regular bright, teasing, intense self. When his daddy was tucking him in that night, William Jr. asked what his father had done to stop Mommy from being sad. The boy expressed his feelings of helplessness as he had tried to help his mother feel better. William explained that his mother had been looking at something in one way and not recognizing that you could also see it another way, a better way, if you tried. As an example, he told his son about the time he cracked a special government code just by noticing that the numbers and letters on the paper could be different letters and numbers if you simply looked at them upside-down. Once he flipped the paper over, the other message was clear.

William took a deep breath, signaling a change in subject, "Son, I'm glad you tried to help Mommy feel better when she was so sad. And I want you to know that your mother loves you more than you will ever need her to. But, the love a woman feels for her husband is different than the love she feels for her son, and there are some things only a daddy can do for mommy." He wasn't sure his son understood what he meant. "O.K.?," William asked.

"O.K. Daddy," the boy said.

Pillow Talk:

Julia enjoyed the look of shock on William's face as she explained Freud's theories of the oedipal stage and how they likely impacted his conversation with his son. Knowing it would push him right to the edge, she made sure to include Freud's ideas of penis envy that would affect his daughters. He checked to see if his understanding was right, "So, according to Freud, everybody in the family wants to sexually possess the mother/wife – you, and all I'm good for is competition for you with our son – which it's important I win, and envy of what I have that makes you want me, my penis, by our daughters. Are you sure you're not just interpreting this though some grandiose lens you have that makes everybody really want you?"

"I'm sure, William," Julia said as her eyes twinkled with mischief. "Now, let's talk about that thing you have that causes all this envy," she said, reaching down to undo the drawstring on his pajamas, sliding her hand down inside of them and stroking him, causing the ignition of rippling waves of desire in both of their lower bodies. Kissing him up his chest, she inhaled his smell and said, "Oh, it really is quite wonderful, William. Perhaps you could use it to sexually possess me tonight, hmm…" she said, lingering over his ear.

William used both hands to slide her nightgown up to her waist while she kissed him and stroked the fire. He rolled her over to lie on top of her, her hand pushing his pajama bottoms down as the world flipped over. As he prepared to slide inside of her he said, "I wouldn't mind making a little _"Freudian slip"_ tonight."

Julia rolled her eyes and explained, "That's not what is meant …," and gasped and then moaned as he entered her, "meant by a…," she moaned again, and her voice became breathy as she struggled for air, "by a Freudian slip," she finally said. She felt the ability to think, let alone talk, slipping away from her. She decided she'd have to explain it to him later.

Once again, this wasn't the only evening where the intellectual conversation was nearly as exciting as their physical one.


End file.
